Friday Food Trip: Jatujak + Choco Moist & Fruits

 When: November 26, 2010

After savoring healthy and delicious Vietnamese food in our recent Saigon (now: Ho Chi Minh City) getaway, we decided to check out another superb Asian cuisine - Thai food! While writing this post, I suddenly have this crazy craving to find the most delish bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancake) in Manila. But for now, let's go Thai at Jatujak. The resto name is quite catchy; it refers to the largest market in Thailand.

 

 Very round spoon eh?

 Thai iced tea (Php 78 each)

I must admit that their iced tea was superb. It's certainly not powdered ice tea mix that you blend with water but it was real tea with milk. It totally reminded me of my favorite nai cha or the Hong Kong-style milk tea.

 

Pla Mug Kratiem Prig Thai (Php 220) ~ squid with cilantro, garlic and pepper

The waiter told us that the dishes are good for sharing, so we didn't bother ordering more. Perfect for  budget-conscious people like us. The squid dish was rich in flavor and not overcooked. Perfect with the fried rice below.

Kao Pad Ruamit (Php 155) ~ fried rice with chicken, pork and shrimps

Their generous serving of fried rice can feed three people, thus we carbo-loaded that night. Whew.

Since I'm not in the mood for sticky rice dessert, we capped off our delicious dinner with yummy choco moist from SM Supermarket. I have grown to love chocolate cake as a dessert and I discovered this affordable but yummy chocolate cake a few months ago at the grocery area. Last week, this was only priced at Php 69 so I was surprised when I saw this! A five-peso increase in a week? Oh c'mon!

 

Choco moist (Php 74) at SM Supermarket bread section

Affordable, perfect for sharing, moist and not cloyingly sweet.

Grapes and orange wedges (with rock salt please)

Inspired by the healthy lifestyle of the Vietnamese, I munched on fruits when I got home. Burp! I love love love Friday food trips! 

Jatujak

UG/F Building A

SM Megamall

Il Dolce Far Niente, Part Uno

The title has been obviously inspired by Eat Pray Love, the most recent film I've watched. It's the time of the year where I usually feel so lazy. Blame it on the intermittently slow workload, holiday spirit and, horror of all horrors, a major bus strike? Oh well. One sure-fire way of cheering myself up is to take a peek at my camera and sort things out. That being said, I noticed my drafts have piled up and I don't want to be buried in a mountain of drafts, do I? So, here goes another random post from two weekends ago.

One of my quirks is to try new things, relatively speaking. So when my officemate and I were homeward bound one night, we tried this coffee & hot choco vendo machine near Ayala MRT just because.

The news literally came alive in Manila Bulletin 3D edition. Some images are best viewed using the 3D glasses.

General rule: I dread deep-fried food. But the rule admits of an exception - Twistix potato! As a certified cheese lover, I had my crunchy and uniquely shaped potato sprinkled with lotsa cheese.

Twistix potato is the best when paired with peppermint mocha frap! Trust me on this. This is an unhealthy breakfast combo but it isn't a crime to deviate from health standards once in a while, right?

I can't imagine my weekends without going to Booksale. It's a foolproof way to keep me sane in this phase called "the sweetness of doing nothing".

I never really produced a sane idea when I'm dead tired from doing nothing at the office, thus I captured all these random stuff.

Another Super Slow Long Weekend

When: October 30-November 1, 2010 

I suppose this blog is a living document of my daily activities. Well, almost.  It keeps me in check. And so I go. So here's how my recent long weekend fared along. I feel old and young all at once, but mostly young. My "young" feeling comes somewhat from the fact that I am happy to share pictures which made me smile somehow. Or is it the other way around? In real life, I'm old, that's why I took delight in cheap thrills? Geez, I don't know. :)

Our pet cat Tisoy is such a sleepyhead. Here, he seemed so peaceful and comfortable catching some zzz's in my sister's lap. Plans to tickle him at his most vulnerable state were aplenty!

Durian love! FYI, I love durian. It's an acquired taste, really. The whole family loves durian. And I feel sorry for those people who can't stand its smell.

Oh, puh-leez, enough with McDo's Twister Fries craze.  It's time to go back to pizza fries. :)

Gave some TLC to my recent and not-so-recent book haul. A roll of plastic that cost Php 30 covered these thirteen (13) books. Pretty cool and, yes, a nerdy side of me.

 

An impromptu walking tour to Tomas Morato was rewarded with Cherry Garcia! I literally squealed with delight when I saw this yummy pint in Rustan's Supermarket at Il Terrazo. Memories of Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor in Barracks Road rushed in. It was fun reminiscing how we discovered this ice cream and, since then, it became our mutual favorite.

For a pricey ice cream, I must have a souvenir shot. Hahaha! 

 

When we got home, we stuffed ourselves with Mama's version of spaghetti with (cute) meatballs. I had two platefuls. Argh.

Family, love, food, books, good health and prayers to departed souls. That's my long weekend. I still feel old and young. :)

New DO!

Let me preface this post by saying that I am a 100% advocate of  "a woman's hair is her crowning glory". I am a firm believer of a woman's right to choose what hairstyle she would want to have.

That being said...

.

I couldn't believe that I sported an utterly dry hair for almost a year. By reasonable standards, the "after" pic is the most practical haircut I've had since 2008. On my first short hair day, I had it blow dried. Please note that my hair can really get out of control and "fly" to opposite directions. It felt strange at first to have a bit of a bare back. I love my new hair to bits!

My Looooong Weekend in Pictures

When: October 22-25, 2010

Just so you know, my long weekend started last Friday. Since October 25 has been declared as a special non-working holiday to give way to Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, I called in sick last Friday to fully enjoy my long weekend. Again, I didn't exercise my right of suffrage. As much as I want to spend the long weekend  in any tourist destination, that chance seemed elusive nowadays. Gotta save for an upcoming vacay!

My long weekend focuses on cheap thrills and random things that made me smile. It's basically life on the slow lane. Or calories and forgetting my vow not to munch on deep-fried.

Red Ribbon's crispy chicken with mango barbecue sauce

I had crispy chicken meal (pictured above) for dinner last Thursday. It's not officially part of the long weekend but, heck, it's a new discovery. I can proudly say I can cook much better than that! So I moved to another search for good fried chicken the next day. I found it at KFC with its newest  chicken variant - Chili Lime chicken (see below). Spicy yet citrusy. Okay, I'll say this to capture it all - it was finger lickin' good! :)

KFC's Chili Lime Chicken

Then came my obligatory trip to the mall with my nephew on Friday nights. Two things that make us both happy are: (1) latest K-Zone mag and (2) DQ's moolatte. What made him happier was that the latest K-Zone featured his fave cartoon hero, Ben 10. At my age, I still read K-Zone to keep me updated of the kiddie world. Hahaha!

Ben 10 + DQ = silencio

Then off to Empanada Nation we went for dinner. It was my second time to visit this familiar stall along Roces Street. This time, the BF went with us and had our bagnet (fried pork belly) fix. I'm not very much familiar with bagnet and the KBL that comes with it. Hmmmm, Marcos? No, KBL means kamatis (tomato), bagoong (shrimp paste) and lasong (small onions).

Bagnet with red egg, garlic rice and KBL

And of course, I can't simply refuse not to taste (again) the famous Ilocos empanada. I think I hoarded enough fat in my body for just one day. Shame.

Saturday was junk food & movie day with siblings Ivan & Nikki, nephew Dave and my one and only sis-in-law She. Thank God for this generous H & W tandem for the movie treat. The movie house roared in laughter at Vice Ganda's punch lines. He was undeniably hilarious! :)

Funnier than the original (remember when?)

Also, my sis Nikki and I had a mini-food fest at Shopwise Arcade food alley. Looking at the picture now makes me sick. Lucky us, no embarrasing public lavatory trip right after.

Blueberry danish, siomai, scramble and tuna kani panini

I'm a sucker for souvenir shots. Those orange pumpkins were too cute to ignore.

 My HH 2010 souvenir pic at Trinoma Mall (big thanks to my buddy Princess)

After window-shopping and exchanging stories, we decided to go cheapo by eating at Mister Donut. Hahaha! Oh, who would've thought that Mister Donut has good penne pasta? I must say that it was very al dente, cheesy and affordable.

 Baked tomato and sausage penne (Php 60 -beat that!) and Belgian choco lava (Php 30)

Okay, enough with gastronomy. Something new now.

 My super mouth telephone!

Here's something lovely amidst my random reads over the long weekend. A single red rose from the BF in honor of our 16th monthsary (October 24). Cheesy, I know. *huge grin*

*sigh*

Wow, I'm starting to sort of enjoy slow-paced, long weekends! :)

Chocomize is Love!

 Milk chocolate with candy corn, fall leaves and candy bats

Dark chocolate with candy bats and orange and black sugar

My heart literally stopped beating when I saw these chocolate bars today in A Cup Of Jo, a blog maintained by a magazine writer from New York. These Halloween-inspired chocolate bars came from Chocomize, a seriously rad shop that lets you build your own chocolate bars.

Two things made me wonder - (1) I'm not a chocolate fan and (2) I never did like Halloween, for crying out loud! Strange, isn't it? Now I find these chocolate bars very, very amusing and too cute for words! If only we have one cool chocolate shop here in Manila that offers similar services, then I'll definitely fall in line! I'm clueless about whether we have one in our shores though. It's not next to impossible, I know.

For now, I'll just remain engrossed browsing Chocomize site. :)

Reminiscing Childhood: Scramble!

Back in grade school, I distanced myself from the wide array of street foods. I went to public school in the province and it's commonplace to see vendors selling all kinds of goodies ranging from banana cue and fritters, camote cue, pork barbecue, green mango (with bagoong or rock salt), semi-ripe papaya (with vinegar and salt), passion fruit (opened on top then you get to sprinkle salt to the seedy mix), cotton candy to... (cue suspense music) scramble! Those were the days. *sigh* Unfortunately, I was deprived of them during those days. My folks would usually warn me about the hepatitis scare. But the little rebel inside me would sometimes sneak away from folks' massive umbrella of concern. Gotcha!

Fast forward to 2010, I am now addicted to scramble goodness! Whoever invented this yummy treat is truly a genius!

 

The preparation of scramble is much, much more hygienic compared to yesteryears.  

Rundown of costs:

Large tub of pink ice shavings with milk powder and choco syrup = Php 17

Toppings/add-ons (mini-marshmallows, rice krispies, chocolate sprinkles, candy sprinkles etc.) = Php 3

Happiness = priceless!

If you read this and don't (1) say "I want that!", (2) mentally include this in your next food trip or (3) go and buy one when you see a scramble stall around the metro, then you should probably take memory enhancers or spiritual guidance (gasp) because you seem to have been deprived of one of the cheapest thrills of childhood. Also, I realize I am late on posting this, but it doesn't matter because scramble is timeless, at least for me. :)

Scramble stalls I've visited:

Buzbox Scrambles

SM Mall of Asia

Icebreaker Scrambles

ShopWise Cubao

Ice Cramble

Blessings & Prosperity Food Court

Ayala Avenue corner Rufino Street

Birthday Lunch: Johnny Rockets + California Berry & More!

When: October 13, 2010

I am now 30 and, believe me, this is puzzling. Details of my puzzlement will be somehow revealed in batches as I go along and document my life in this little nook in the web. Deep down inside, I still feel very young and I sincerely hope that it will show. Wishful thinking or not, I don't know. Hahaha! 

Okay, allow me to ramble about adding another year to my earthling life. Big celebrations are not my thing. Several weeks prior, my folks posed these classic questions: Where are we going to celebrate? Shall we order food from CCME, Luk Foo or Savory? How about your cake? Pre-ordered (referring to Estrel's) or over the counter (Red Ribbon, Goldilocks or Conti's)? Blah-blah.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate my folks' concern over their firstborn's 30th birthday. Ladies and gentlemen, I just defied the family tradition and said no to those. No cooking necessary either. I'm 30, get over it. It's just one day and it will certainly pass. Call it madness or non-conformist behavior but I happened to love my no-frills birthday!

 

At the Johnny Rockets entrance: Me, holding my Johnny Rockets take-out and a pink balloon (huge thanks to BF who dared to ask if he can get a balloon from the grand opening day leftovers) beside a life-size cardboard illustration of a woman in WWII armed services uniform. If this doesn't spell happy, then I don't know what is! 

It will be a normal day, I promised myself. I pretty much evolved from not knowing much about birthday plans to enthusiastically reveling in little surprises. So I had a normal breakfast, normal shower, normal reading pace, normal playlist and then BF showed up. As promised, he appeared normal - meaning, no flowers and gifts mysteriously hidden somewhere. He then asked me where I'd like to have lunch and I instantly told him - Banapple at Il Terrazzo. So we trooped to Banapple but it was packed with yuppies. A few minutes later, we found ourselves entering Johnny Rockets. Whoa! Burger and fries on my special day, why not?

 

The concept is a diner-style resto circa 1950s. Very interesting!

Jukebox station in every table

Making a smiley face with ketchup on the paper plate when served french fries is a Johnny Rockets trademark. (Wikipedia)

The waitstaff assigned to us was very friendly and accommodating. Songs reminiscent of the swinging 1960s or Sunday classics blasted through the speakers. Then, all of a sudden, the staff began gyrating happily to the tune of  Build Me Up Buttercup. What a pleasant dining experience it was!

The diners, BF and I included, were very much entertained with the dance number. Then the food.

# 12 (Php 335) ~ cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, onion slice, pickle, mayonnaise & our tangy "red sauce." On a scale of one to ten, it's a twelve!

I thought it was too pricey and the only comforting fact I learned was that the burger actually included fries-all-you can. Never mind the fact that I avoid deep-fried stuff nowadays.

The birthday girl's order: sliders (Php 265) ~ mini-sliders with mayonnaise and pickles/ dijonnaise. Perfect for sharing.

I underestimated the capability of these little burgers to fill me up. They were in fact very juicy and heavy on the tummy. I even took the third dwarf burger home with me.

Drinks: bottomless lemonade (Php 110) and Coke in can (Php 85)

Well, dining at Johnny Rockets is definitely not for cheapskates like me. Hahaha! I've learned my lesson, thank you. While on our second plate of fries, the staff performed another dance number to the tune of Y.M.C.A.

Vintage shots

Can we take them home please?

Since I'm all for healthy dessert, then off to California Berry we went. We sampled their newest flavor - green apple - and it was okay, nothing fantastic.

Green apple fro-yo (Php 90, medium cup)

When I went home, I found the whole birthday spread lovingly carried by Lazy Susan. Oh wait, did I just say that I wanted no pre-ordered food? Oh well. Hahaha!

CCME's beef caldereta and lumpiang shanghai, Amber's spaghetti and pichi-pichi and ice-cold Coke

Did I just turn 30? :)

Johnny Rockets

205 Tomas Morato Street

Quezon City

California Berry

Kopiroti Building

186 Tomas Morato

Quezon City